Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 78 - 69: The Subtle Magic of Love

Evening of August 10, 2017

No conclusion was reached regarding the question of whether to attend Li Fengyun’s 50th birthday banquet.

Wang Jiu was not surprised by the ineffectiveness of the Human Flesh Copper Coin.

No matter how miraculous the elixir pills were, they were of no use to a person critically ill.

Although the Human Flesh Copper Coin is indeed an effective spiritual medicine for solving complicated issues, if the one tossing the copper is a woman, then even if a result is thrown, reasons like "best of three", "best of five", or "how can such a serious matter be treated lightly" will often keep the problem entangled until the end of time.

Tangling, after all, is the nature of some women.

And even though Shen Qingming was already 14 yet still poorly developed, even much inferior to the 13-year-old Li Chaolu, from the perspective of primary sexual characteristics, she is still a real woman, so having symptoms of tangling is quite normal.

Anyway, no matter how tangled she is, as time goes by, she will eventually make a decision. For example, if she keeps tangling until the early morning of the 17th, it will be equivalent to automatically giving up attending the birthday banquet.

——

On the other hand, after a round of noise, Shen Qingming felt like she didn’t even have the energy to tangle, lying on her back on the bed, gazing down at Wang Jiu standing by the bed without wanting to speak.

After a long while, when Wang Jiu suddenly thought of a culinary idea and was ready to head to the kitchen to put it into practice, Shen Qingming spoke up.

"You know, all these years, the aunt who has been selling me high-quality vegetables at low prices... is actually Lu Xin."

"It’s her?"

"Right, you’re quite surprised too, right? When I just realized it, it felt like my brain exploded like someone detonated my Divine Sense... Of course, I can’t say I am 100% sure. But some things can’t be explained by coincidence! Yesterday when I went to buy vegetables, the money bag used by that vegetable-selling aunt was identical to the one in Lu Xin’s bedroom, even the imperfections in the pattern matched perfectly! Moreover, as you said, the fruits and vegetables at that stall are products exclusively supplied by a big family’s farm, with completely different nutritional values. Oh, and yesterday, when I went to buy vegetables, I even saw some of Li Li’s servants. What were they doing at the East City Vegetable Market?"

Wang Jiu, however, frowned: "So it’s her... with this revelation, I must revise my opinion of her. Originally, I thought she had genuine feelings towards you but didn’t know how to express them. Now it seems, perhaps she genuinely harbors ill intentions towards you."

Shen Qingming’s eyes widened instantly: "How could that be? She obviously means well!"

"Means well?" Wang Jiu couldn’t understand, "How do you explain that?"

Shen Qingming said: "It’s quite simple, she saw that I couldn’t break through the Wind Barrier, so she intended to motivate me to work harder by imposing harsh conditions, allowing me to use perseverance to overcome the lack of talent. On the other hand, cultivation from the Body Refining Stage to Breaking Wind Barrier required sufficient nutritional supply, so she disguised herself and went to the civilian vegetable market to sell me quality vegetables. This must be with good intentions."

Wang Jiu said: "This explanation doesn’t hold up. If she wanted to ensure your nutritional supply without exposing the strategy, why not sell you cheap pork, beef, or lamb, or offer cheap eggs and milk, but opted for carrots instead?"

Shen Qingming explained: "Because she wanted me to live in a relatively tough environment, to maintain the motivation to strive upwards."

"With carrots? Don’t you think this is putting the cart before the horse? I’m more inclined to see it as an insult. For instance, if someone is poisoned, putting the only antidote in feces and then delivering the feces considerately to that person..."

"How much do you dislike carrots!?" Shen Qingming said angrily, "And even if green vegetables and carrots are inappropriate in some ways, she didn’t do it on purpose! She’s not good at these things in the first place. She’s the precious daughter of the Cyan Cloud Lu Family! When she first married into the Li Family, she couldn’t even boil an egg, she’d throw a whole tomato into boiling water to make tomato and egg soup, couldn’t peel eggs neatly... how could someone like that be so versatile and thorough? Some mistakes are normal and don’t affect her genuine feelings, why can’t you see that?!"

Wang Jiu said: "So, you believe she has no malice towards you at all? Even if she and your biological mother used to be love rivals, she wouldn’t transfer her resentment onto you?"

"... Lu Xin isn’t that petty; although she has a lot of messy habits, she is straightforward in her conduct. The grudges with my mother couldn’t possibly extend to me, that would only make her look lower in comparison."

Wang Jiu was silent for a moment: "Then here’s the question, since you like Lu Xin so much, why are you still so troubled about whether to attend Li Fengyun’s birthday banquet because you don’t want to see her?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingming was shocked and then tongue-tied, managing to speak after a moment: "Who, who, who likes Lu Xin!? How, how could I possibly like her? That woman is the worst!"

Saying this, even she felt her words were contradictory, making no sense, and her face turned red in an instant.

"Enough, I don’t want to talk to you anymore! I’m going to sleep, need to rest!"

——

Wang Jiu watched the little girl pull the quilt over her head, wrapping her small body completely, looking just like a steamed bun. But inside the quilt, her heart was pounding, and her thoughts were in a chaotic, highly active state.

Wang Jiu thought for a moment, feeling that this posture was entirely unfavorable for sleep, and the chaotic thoughts were the bane of sleep. If she continued to be so tangled, it would most likely end in insomnia, severely affecting her training the next morning. For someone like her, with limited talent and aptitude as a mount, wasting time was an unbearable burden.

So Wang Jiu conveniently struck the newly forged God’s Regret Bell within the Sword World.

A ripple in the Divine Sense Domain instantly blossomed within the Sword World and then directly struck Shen Qingming’s Divine Sense through the Master-Servant Contract channel.

The little girl, who had just reached the mid-stage of the Wind-Rising Realm, naturally couldn’t withstand the impact from the Celestial Divine Sword’s Sword World and fell asleep without a sound.

By the time she got up the next morning, Shen Qingming couldn’t even remember what she had been troubled by the night before. After washing and dressing in a daze, she felt there might be something undigested in her mind, but she couldn’t quite grasp it, leaving her extremely frustrated.

Seeing this expression, Wang Jiu said with concern, "If the Five Grains Reincarnation is obstructed, you might try drinking a glass of cold water in the morning..."

"...Thanks, but women in the Immortal Cultivation World don’t need the Five Grains Reincarnation!"

Wang Jiu exclaimed, "Hey, you say the same as Yuming; could it really be the case?"

Shen Qingming ignored him, and after organizing her True Essence and Qi Blood, she began her morning exercises in a systematic manner.

With her current strength, she was considered top-tier in the mid-stage of the Wind-Rising Realm. The physical enhancement of the Immovable Tyrant Body was unbelievably formidable. Now, after only a few months of cultivation, the power in her gestures was more than ten times stronger than before. During her routine practice, even the Shen Garden Training Ground, reinforced by arrays, couldn’t quite handle it, causing the ground to shake and ancient trees along the walls to rustle.

The girl was practicing the third form of the Immovable Tyrant Body but felt somewhat distracted. Her mind kept being tugged by the chaos in her head. After a while, realizing her efficiency was low and she hadn’t even broken a sweat, she stopped forcing herself and, with furrowed brows, asked, "Ah Jiu, I always feel like I’ve forgotten something important."

Wang Jiu also frowned, associating the girl’s odd behavior in the morning and her lack of sweat during half a day of practice, and ventured a guess: "You... didn’t wet the bed, did you?"

"You..." Shen Qingming immediately felt a surge of anger, but it was as if a bucket of cold water poured over her head, calming her down, "I, I remembered."

Wang Jiu sighed, "I told you before to prepare before bed, at least have a water jug ready, and now you remember?"

"It’s not what you’re talking about! I’m saying..." Shen Qingming swallowed, "I remembered. I decided last night that I want to return to the Li Family Mansion to attend my father’s birthday banquet."

Wang Jiu said, "Oh, so you see, the Human Flesh Copper Coin is effective for treating indecisiveness."

"..." Shen Qingming bit her lip tightly, suppressing the urge to swear, "Anyway, on the 17th, I will openly return to the Li Family Mansion to celebrate my father’s birthday, and then... I’ll apologize to everyone in the family. Although everything before was due to misunderstandings, there was my responsibility in that misunderstanding. As for Lu Xin, I don’t know and don’t want to care what she thinks or does. I must acknowledge what I did wrong."

After saying this, the girl breathed a sigh of relief, asking, "Ah Jiu, what do you think?"

Wang Jiu said, "Being brave enough to take responsibility is a sign of maturity, and I think your decision is very wise."

"Ha, thank you." After speaking, Shen Qingming relaxed completely and suddenly thought of something, "Come to think of it, so strange. Last night, after making up my mind under the quilt, I was so excited that I wanted to shout out, but then suddenly felt my head get heavy and fell asleep unknowingly... Do you know what that was about?"

"Well, have you heard of the God’s Regret Bell?"

"No, what’s up with it?"

"Then it’s hard for me to explain the phenomenon and principles that happened to you last night."

"Forget it, I’m not interested either." Shen Qingming, in high spirits and unconcerned with minor details, asked again, "What kind of gift do you think I should bring for such a family banquet?"

Wang Jiu said, "Based on my understanding of humans, parents around fifty usually look forward to having grandchildren. I think you could consider that angle."

"...Asking you this kind of question makes me question my own intelligence."